No medical association in the world believes routine infant circumcision is medically justified. Today, most Canadian doctors do not circumcise infants—even if parents request it—because they recognize it is unethical to force a child to undergo unnecessary amputation. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

2. Circumcision diminishes sexual enjoyment for life.

A 2007 British Journal of Urology study* found that the five most sensitive parts of the penis are removed by circumcision. Foreskin is not “extra skin”—it is functional erogenous tissue containing almost half the skin and well over half the nerves of the penis. Cut it off and those nerves are gone forever, taking with them any chance of enjoying foreskin-based orgasms. Plus, the now-unprotected penis head loses sensitivity from exposure. A circumcised infant will never know the full, natural sexual experience his whole penis would have given him—and that’s a tragedy.

3. Circumcision violates children’s human rights.

All children (male, female and intersex) have a human right to a whole and intact body—so no child’s sex organs should be amputated without an urgent medical reason. A boy’s foreskin doesn’t belong to God, the government, or his parents—it belongs to him.His body, his choice!

4. Circumcision denies children’s religious freedom.

Some faith groups argue that ritual child circumcision must be permitted on the grounds of religious freedom. However, this ignores the fact that forcing a child to endure ritual circumcision—the permanent modification of the genitals to signify religious affiliation—denies the child’s religious freedom. In Canada, we have the right to follow the religion of our choice, and to decide which religious traditions we wish to observe. As such, ritual circumcision should be delayed until adulthood, when the owner of the penis can freely ask to be circumcised as an expression of his chosen faith. Circumcision is for consenting adults only!

For all these reasons and more, the Canadian Foreskin Awareness Project is standing up to the shoddy science, long-debunked urban legends and religious dogma that convince well-meaning parents to violate the bodies and rights of their children with the unnecessary amputation of their most sensitive sex organs. If you support foreskin and children’s fundamental human rights, get involved!